Chris Sembrot’s ‘Spank Rock’ for Fabric Horse

Posted on March 12, 2012 by The Pick

Chris Sembrot won 1st place in the Altpick Awards Photography Single category for his photograph titled ‘Spank Rock”, which is part of a series of 20 images shot for Fabric Horse’s 2011 Look Book.

Chris photographed the assignment over 2 weekends in Philadelphia with his friend and client, Carrie Collins – owner and designer of bike messenger bag company, Fabric Horse. “I was tasked with shooting these for her 2011 Look Book, while Carrie handled all aspects of production. Carrie asked a bunch of friends to take part in the shoot and Naeem Juwan, aka Spank Rock was one of them. Her connections to talented, great looking models (all friends) seemed limitless. I’m still so happy with the images we got from that shoot.”, comments Chris.

See more of Chris’ work on Altpick and his website.

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Duggal and the Artists Who Create to Change the World

Posted on March 9, 2012 by The Pick

By Baldev Duggal

It was more than ten years ago when we first worked with acclaimed photographer Russell James. He had been commissioned by Hermes to create a site-specific installation at the Academy of Art in Tribeca.

James, already pushing his fashion photography into an experimental fine art genre, was exploring the theme of the “Nomad” in his photography at the time.  He conceptualized the installation as “islands” of visual experiences that would lead people through a journey through five elements. I remember creating floor to ceiling prints of James’ pictures to emulate wall enclosures through which people could walk into different “rooms” of James’ gorgeous photographs.

We printed his images as large as possible on materials that ranged from Copper, Aluminum and Acrylic to Mirrors and Silks. At a time when many photographers were still questioning the future of high resolution digital imagery, Russell experimented freely with our latest digital printing techniques to deliver an experience that went far beyond the experience of his photography on glossy magazine covers. The success of the exhibition demonstrated James’ unique ability to channel his intuitive connection to the earth and his nomadic spirit into a visual spectacle that would both aesthetically and metaphorically transport the audience into another world.

A decade after that experience it came as no surprise when I discovered that Russell had channeled his versatility with art and culture into a wildly successful creative organization that collaborates with Indigenous artists from around the world. Nomad Two Worlds, a project, which began as a “steeply messaged artistic collaboration” between James and Australian Indigenous artists, is now a socially responsible global business that works to “raise awareness of the beauty and rich cultural history of Indigenous people worldwide”. The Nomad team collaborates with Indigenous artists to create culturally relevant contemporary art and consumer products to provide sustainable economic opportunities for the artists.

The project has also spawned the Nomad Two Worlds Foundation, a philanthropic entity established to support, nurture and promote artists from Indigenous and marginalized cultures and through art, create a platform for dialogue and education on the importance of cultural preservation to Indigenous communities’ health, self-esteem and the well-being of its children.

If you were to catch Russell on one of his regular gigs when he is shooting supermodels for campaigns for the world’s biggest glamour brands including Victoria Secret, Donna Karan, Revlon, Rolex among many others, you’d be hard pressed to link him to the man who spends much of his time traveling to remote parts of the world developing multi-disciplinary art projects with Indigenous artists. James is working on a mission to preserve what he considers the most pressing cultural issue of our time—preserving our threatened links with the native cultures we come from so we can remember our “individuality as people.”

Russell’s works have appeared in leading publications such as Vanity Fair, W, American Photo and Sports Illustrated, and have been published in several fine art books by world leading art-book publisher teNeues Publications, including the three-hundred page retrospective ‘Russell James’ (2009) and his sequel ‘V2’ (2010). In August of 2007 Russell was awarded the Hasselblad Masters Award, and in 2009 Russell joined the prestigious ranks of Irving Penn and Helmut Newton as a resident artist of Camera Work, the world’s leading gallery for contemporary photography and vintage master works. In September 2010 a series of James’ images was inducted in to the ‘fashion’ museum tour alongside such greats as Richard Avedon, William Klein, Peter Lindbergh and many other master photographers of our time.

Russell’s stardom in the fashion industry won him many admirers, the most wonderful of them, Donna Karan, whose foundation Urban Zen became fully dedicated to supporting Nomad Two Worlds since its very inception. “Nomad Two Worlds is a creative, multi-media collaboration I became involved with two years ago with the brilliant photographer, Russell James. Nomad Two Worlds is everything Urban Zen is about and frankly everything I’m about. Connecting the dots between the past, present and future. Expressing the artistry and soul of native cultures through the technology and creativity of modern artists,” states Karan as she travels around the world to develop new projects with Urban Zen and Nomad Two Worlds. Nomad Two Worlds was invited to Haiti by the Clinton Global Initiative together with Donna Karan and her foundation Urban Zen to help stimulate the artisan community after the devastating earthquake. James had been developing art in Haiti since 2009 collaborating with Haitian artists including Pascale Monnin, Debreus Lherisson, Reinold Clerisier and Philippe Dodard to create beautiful contemporary artforms that combine James’ photography with traditional sequin-work, acrylic painting, beading and sculpting.

In November 2011, the Clinton Global Initiative invited Nomad Two Worlds and UrbanZen to create an outdoor exhibition of the artworks they created with Haitian artists as part of their “Invest in Haiti” forum organized by CGI, Inter-American Development Bank and the Government of Haiti. James who has been running Nomad Two Worlds as a non-profit organization turned to my son, Mike Duggal for assistance in reproducing these artworks for the exhibition. Given the opportunity to assist the rebuilding and economic empowerment of Haiti after the devastating earthquake, my son and I were only too eager to help Russell in any way we could. We digitally reproduced all of the 30 works of art on large format fabric through a dye-sublimation process in which the image gets permanently transferred to a substrate making it perfect for outdoor conditions while retaining the pictures’ high resolution. The pictures were hung like paintings across the periphery of the forum’s venue. “The combination of our images and Duggal Visual Solutions’ high quality printing brought a beautiful array of color, style and design to the exhibition that President Clinton felt was an important visual component to the forum,” stated Russell James.

Last month Oprah requested several of the printed pieces to be used as backdrops for a documentary she is making to support Haiti. I am extremely proud of Russell and Donna Karan’s commitment to highlighting these poignant shifts in our global culture and am excited that Duggal could contribute to this phenomenal convergence of fashion, entertainment, philanthropy, cultural preservation and economic empowerment, through the lens of a camera. This is what drives each one of our 300 employees at Duggal and makes our journeys truly meaningful as we continue to support artists and artisans who create to change the world.

Stay connected with Duggal here.

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Win an Original Puppet from Red Nose Studio

Posted on March 7, 2012 by The Pick

Thinking about coming to ICON7 ? Buy your ticket now, and you’ll be entered to win an original puppet from the famed Red Nose Studio.

Meet Neven (photos below). Resting upon his shoulder is his pet moth “7”, who is fashioned from a Speedball B-5 nib. Together they make perfect companions for ICON7. Ever dapper in his paisely suit, Neven is valued at $2100.

This is the first in a series of raffles with prizes offered by artists, organizations and friends of ICON. The earlier you register, the more chances you have to win one of our raffles. ICON will announce the winner of this raffle in the upcoming weeks. All prizes will be given out at ICON7 in Providence.

Register by the end of day (EST) March 11th and you could be a winner.  ALREADY REGISTERED?  Great! You are automatically entered to win all raffles.

To register for ICON7 click here.

To see more puppets from Red Nose Studio click here.

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Wish You Were Here

Posted on February 22, 2012 by The Pick

Jeff Green shoots images that make you say “Oh! I want to (go, stay, play, eat and drink) there. Welcome to his playground.

Based in Las Vegas, he shoots ad campaigns, annual reports, editorial and stock photography on a variety of subject matter from architecture/interiors to food to portraits for a global clientele.

His is a graphic style in composition with an intuitive lighting sensibility that appeals to clients that include Wynn, Armani, Pepsi, Wolfgang Puck and Adidas amongst others.

His tools of choice? Canon 35mm format and Hasselblad medium format digital camera systems.

On assignments the world over, he calls Las Vegas home. Wish you were here.

See more of Jeff’s work on his Altpick page and his website.

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Lessons Selina Maitreya has learned…

Posted on February 21, 2012 by The Pick

Selina Maitreya, photographer consultant, wrote this for a recent blog post and wanted to share it with you…”As we start another year, walk in your integrity and make this YOUR
best year ever!”  Lessons I’ve learned….Selina Maitreya 2011

  • Never underestimate the power of a talented, driven photographer..
  • The world is full of paradox.
  • If you wait long enough things will shift completely.
  • What goes around, comes around and around and around again.
  • As we grow older the world gets smaller. Kindness is contagious.
  • In the photo business everything has changed yet nothing has changed.
  • Relationships still are key ,they just come into play at a different time.
  • Vision is the value clients seek, and the statement photographers must
    make again and again and again.
  • People are basically good.
  • Nice guys do not finish last. Nor do nice women.
  • The sky is NOT falling and print is not dead.
  • Kindness is contagious.
  • Vision is a divine gift. Successful photographers share consistent traits.
  • Not sweating the small stuff leads to not sweating the really big stuff.
  • Negativity is toxic. If photographers are grounded in negativity no
    amount of marketing in the world will help them to grow their business.
  • Kindness is contagious.
  • Dorothy was onto something when she told Toto
    “People come and go so quickly around here!”
  • As crowded as the field of photo is, it is only competitive in numbers.
  • Photographers as a group are the most interesting, fascinating,
    talented, complicated, funny, and loving people. Having great intentions
    to do anything gets you nowhere, with out action to fuel your desires.
  • Photography businesses take 2-4 years to fully mature once a solid vision
    and a well developed sales /marketing program are in place.
  • Kindness is contagious.
  • If you cheat or devalue your suppliers by constantly negotiating with
    them to lower their fees, your clients will do the same with you.
  • A valued,respected and well paid employee will return the favor in
    spades.
  • Smiling is good for your health. You can’ t smile without feeling
    better, and happier.
  • Going to grace by listing what you are grateful for, will always turn
    around a bad day.
  • Faith is the best companion you can have, and trust is a valued friend.
  • Hard work is good for the soul, and a positive outlook can completely
    change your world.
  • People  are basically good and
  • Kindness is contagious.

In Grace
With Gratitude
Selina
http://www.selinamaitreya.com
http://www.professionalphotographyteleseminar.com

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Hands :: A Reflection

Posted on February 14, 2012 by The Pick

Hands are important to those who frequent Altpick. They are an almost indispensible part of creating artwork. We are all familiar with the emotions stimulated by an infant wrapping its fingers around one of ours, of a pat on the back, of a high five and an infinity of other gestures that communicate across distances and touch up close.

I want to relate the single most important hand moments of my family. Then Altpick and I invite you to go to the comments icon and instead of leaving a comment, we would like you to leave a word image of the hands most important to you. It could be one line or a few. Let’s see what variety there is in this. Invite those you know to also come and share with us.

I start with my Dad because it is the earliest imprinted hand event I can remember. My Dad has always been a rather robust man. His hand is correspondingly robust. When I was very small, perhaps three or four, he was showing me the plants in his small salad garden. His large (to me huge) finger delicately brushed crumbs of soil away from the growing root of a radish so I could see how it grew, invisibly, under cover. He recovered it with the same extraordinary gentleness, I would say, tenderness. Those graceful movements, which astonished me at that time, have remained with me. It is a challenge to eat a radish without thinking of him.

My Mother is more difficult. A mother has her hands everywhere, taking care and always doing. On reflection I decided that the most definitive memory of her was an image that comes more from her retirement. She has the time to dedicate daily and I can see her when I visit. She is, as my sister has called her, “a prayer warrior”. Her hands, usually in the lamplight of evening, quietly holding and moving her rosary, are an image of her caring for all. Her soul is in them then.

My brother. He was eighteen months younger than me and our first passes as children were made together. Together we built with blocks, we wrestled and ran and played. He ferociously was my equal in all despite my being older. When I was about six, we found a pile of bricks out back and decided to build a wall. We faced each other and built it between us. At one point there was a place we both wanted our bricks to go. We slammed into that space as fast and hard as we could, each trying to get there first. It was a tie. I lost a nail (pride in that) from a very black and blue finger caught in the crash. I can still see his small hand on that brick zooming towards the space I wanted for mine.

My sisters’ hands come together as a package. The memory is from a little over two years ago. It was at a funeral Mass for my brother’s ashes. We went up to the altar podium. Each of us, in turn, stepped forward and addressed those gathered. I was last. I was reading a memorial written by his best friend, who couldn’t be there. Even though I had reviewed it all, at length earlier, my voice started to crack on the first sentence. From behind me, immediately and without pause, I felt my sisters as one, take half a step closer and each placed a hand, just perched it, on the back of a shoulder. I have no real visual. It is a visceral memory. They made a circuit with me and I read that entire letter with strength and grace because of their hands touching me.

My Husband’s hands are very large. He is a big man. During a visit, while we were dating, I was seated at the table in his country kitchen and he was massaging my shoulders. A wasp flew in and started walking around the rim of the lampshade hung over that table. One hand never left my shoulder. The other hand reached up and one huge finger delicately stroked the back of the wasp. He was petting it! He was so gentle it let him do this. He continued to stroke it several times and then, when he stopped the wasp continued its circuit of the lamp.

In some way this is where it all started, with the tenderness hidden in huge, rough, manly hands. But it truly expands outwards to all. Please share your ‘hands story’. Click comments, below, and write, for all of us to share.

Written by our Italy Correspondent and Artist Carol Schultheiss in Cavallini.

Photo by Maria Ragusa-Burfield.

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Simon Puschmann Shoots over 8 days in Downtown Chicago

Posted on January 31, 2012 by The Pick

Sometimes the less we are given, the more we give. On assignment to shoot for BMW,  KKLD discovered just how creative they had to be with some temperamental prototype cars teasing them with all too brief glimpses. They didn’t have time to be jealous with sharing them. They just focused their lens and wooed some finely tuned machine hearts.

Simon Puschmann had one prototype car per Model i3 & i8 that were extremely sensitive to heat and sun (must not get hot) which meant that the actual shooting times were extremely short. Sometimes the prototype cars were only allowed out in the sun for 10 minutes at a time. The prototypes were shipped straight from the shoot to their first official presentation at the Frankfurt Auto show and hence they had to be looked after really well. They also had to share the prototypes cars with a press photography team and a film team who shot a commercial.

Impossible conditions and parameters? Gentlemen, start your engines.

Agency : KKLD, Berlin

Client : BMWi

Producer local : Jake Mills Productions

Producer over all : Tim Michel Producer, Hamburg

Photographer : Simon Puschmann

See more of Simon Puschmann’s work on his website and his Altpick page.

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Paul Weiner on Creative Thoughts About Sketching

Posted on January 20, 2012 by The Pick

Sketching is one of those essential tasks that I try to do everyday but time doesn’t always permit or I become distracted for one reason or another. I usually start the day with a cup of coffee and listen to NPR news to get the body warmed up and the brain functioning. When I enter the studio, I inspect my surroundings as I left the previous evening. The computers are all warmed up and humming, so I check my e-mail for messages or unanswered e-mails to send. After about five minutes on the internet I look for whatever sketchbook, pencil and kneaded eraser are within easy reach. I sit down and stare at the blank page and wonder what I will conjure up today. On some days this is easier than others. If I need to, I will start with some simple doodles and that gradually leads to more complex sketches. I really enjoy the tactile feel of the pencil on paper because so much of my finished work ends up on the computer. When I do have a day when the muse is speaking to me, I continue drawing until it is completed. I don’t want to loose my momentum because it isn’t always easy returning to this ideal state of sketching.

Lacking inspiration is something all artists go through. This has forced me to develop an attitude how to handle these moments. I have a series of steps I go through before sketching. I may go through my reference files to see if anything sparks my inspiration. I generally think of sketching as a series of steps I apply. If I am just doodling I let my mind wander and the pencil freely created images.  I look for something I possibly can latch onto and develop. Another step I try is a bit more structure. I will pick-up an anatomy book or photographs and interpret what I see. This doesn’t hurt because at some point I will us these exercises in future sketches. One of my favorite books is “Bridgman’s Complete Guide To Drawing From Life.” A fine addition to any library. Check out for purchase at: http://amzn.to/wI2EgU. I may sit there with pencil and paper and think of concepts for future illustrations and sketch. This can be very challenging because I am forcing the noodle to think. If I feel I am not being productive I take a healthy walk to overcome the draught and return to my sketching state.

Creativity for me involves the process of pouring amounts of energy into the drawing process. I find sketching very exciting because I never know what I will appear.  I do encourage you to take the time and sketch. You can either sign up for drawing classes at the local art school or adult centers. Take your pencil and pad and go downtown or favorite location and try sketching people as they walk. You will discover things that you never really looked at before. As the great illustrator Walt Stanchfield said, “Sketching is to the artist what shadow boxing is to a boxer; keyboard practice is to a concert pianist; practice is to a tennis player, or a participant in any sport.” Make the time or maybe your New Year’s resolution and and start sketching.

If you have any thoughts or comments about this article send them my way. Tell me how your sketching affects you. I would like to hear your thoughts on the subject. Send me your comments so I can respond or include in my next blog article.

Check Paul Weiner’s work on Altpick and his website.

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Lottie Hedley’s ‘Unbroken’

Posted on January 17, 2012 by The Pick

During the summer and fall of 2011 I started working on a photographic project in Smyrna Mills, northern Maine, about 15 minutes from the Canadian border. I’m looking forward to visiting the Hilty’s during the winter and continuing this project. During my time on the farm on Fox Run Drive I would live, eat, work, but mainly photograph a family who care deeply about farming sustainably. I’ve worked previously on farming stories trying to remind people about the vulnerability of the family farm, but with this story I wanted to remind people that there is hope. Sustainability and stewardship are synonymous in my book. The Hilty family are evidence of this.

In the Hilty household life works in circles. Food at meals is passed around the table in a clockwise circle; while questions regarding the morning’s bible reading come around the table in an anti-clockwise direction. The seasons impress their own circular influence on the family’s market gardening business and their method of farming cycles the soil through a process to ensure the soil is enriched rather than stripped. Perhaps most importantly, the family’s philosophy on farming for the future generations speaks to an over-arching cycle.

Milo and Velma Hilty and their family of five moved to an old abandoned dairy farm covered in wild strawberries and paintbrush in Smyrna Mills, Northern Maine in the spring of 1996. They run “The Back 40 Growers” farm-stand on route two, which houses the produce of eight Amish families and they sustainably and organically farm 20 acres of predominantly vegetables which they supply locally and also to Bangor and Rockport.

Milo realizes that “sustainability” and eating locally is up in people’s consciousness much more now than 20 years ago. But they aren’t on the sustainability bandwagon because its trendy and they can pocket more by waving an organic, sustainable flag. The Hilty’s believe the Lord intended us to be stewards of the land. Their philosophy is to work with the land instead of against it and they don’t want their children to have to find answers for the problems they’ve created by farming the land to excess.

Betty, the youngest daughter, runs the farm-stand. They have a faithful local following many of whom turn up in advance of the 9am opening time, especially in the early part of the tomato season. Truck drivers pull over to pick up produce as they return home from driving across state (their trucks dwarfing the farm-stand); some use the butterhead lettuce as floral arrangements; two men drive up once a month from Bangor (one and half hours drive away) to stock up on fresh produce; one woman buys up three bags of peas (all the peas that are left), but splits them with another woman who shows up after her and is disappointed all the peas are gone; most people leave with four or more shopping bags of produce – with the desperation for peas and tomatoes and the number of bags on a customer’s arm as they leave the farm-stand it could well be akin to a Macy’s New Year’s sale (minus the stampeding and aggression).

Two things are apparent from the time I spend with Betty in the farm-stand. First, people shop here for the quality of the produce. They know how it is produced and they buy it for its method of production (an actual certification isn’t necessary), its taste and the honesty and integrity of the families they deal with. And second, even in a back 40 Amish farm-stand 15mins from the Canadian border where a sign on the door asks you to tie your horse up elsewhere, you can’t take the American away from their beloved donuts. Nearly every patron picks up one of the Taste of Home Bakery’s glazed donuts as the last item to add to their bounty of fresh vege. Its easy to think that this type of sustainability is only possible in America’s back 40; in a culture that shuns mechanization and “modernity”. However, with the growing consciousness of sustainability there are individuals and groups all over the United States that are applying the principles of sustainability and stewardship to their farming practices – from CSAs to urban rooftop farmers.

As I say goodbye to Betty and pack up my gear getting ready to drive home a young blond girl brings in a bushel of carrots from her family’s farm to sell at the farm-stand. Her fingernails and the pores on her face are laced with dirt. She is the next generation of farmers. Her name is Faith.

–Lottie Hedley

To see more of Lottie Hedley’s work, go to her Altpick and her website.

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